A Demon In The Freak Show
by Moonlightnightwisher
Summary: Rebeque West was born with two bones that protruded from her head like horns, giving her demon like character traits. She'd gone to the Freak Show in Jupiter, Florida in hopes of finding refuge against the cruel world, but becomes a worker there instead. On Halloween night, after she'd performed, she is greeted by Edward Mordrake and is forced to relive her dark past. (Enjoy! R&R)
1. Chapter 1

I ran my fingertips over the sandpaper like shards that made up the horns on my head. I wish I could say they were merely a temporary detail on my face, like a pimple perhaps, but no. They were as real as you and I.  
>I was one of the acts in Elsa's Freak Show, and it was by far the lowest point in my entire life. Everyone within this fiasco of a freak show, though they were polite, exiled me because I was the oddest of them all.<br>Yes, I am a demon. Or at least, that's what I've been brought up to think.  
>Aside from the horns that grow on either side of my forehead just inches from my mane of wavy auburn hair, I would consider myself to be quite beautiful. But alas, it is the smallest things that tarnish a prettiest of objects.<br>My nicknames nowadays are 'Horns', 'Satana' or anything that came to mind; Usually names that revolved around the Ruler of Hell or his minions. I worked hard, I did my job correctly, but I would never manage to compete with the other beauties that reside within the disheveled tents that litter this seemingly forsaken field of yellowing grass. My only friend who even tries to be kind in all of Jupiter, Florida, is young Jimmy Darling. But I don't really pay that much heed to his pretty words and kind fashion since he's close friends with everyone and would flirt with every female with a working hole between her legs.  
>When I first came to this Freak Show, I originally thought it might've been an abandoned circus; someplace I could live in hiding for the remainder of my life (However long or short that may be). But when various other weirdos and outcasts began to appear as I walked through the ruddy multicolored town, I began to feel slightly at ease. These men and women were also like me; unwanted by society and in need of a different home then the ones that they had before. At the time, I'd been wearing a hat over my horns, so perhaps they thought I was going to be a customer to their peculiar production. Again, I say, aside from the horns and the various scars and burns that decorated my body, I look like anyone else.<br>Elsa, the German woman who'd seen my state also was under the impression I was a paying customer in need of a good show, but I had to explain to her that her show was not the reason why I was there. I was hoping to barter some form of living arrangements. She asked me without pause if I had anything of value that could be added into her show, to which I immediately regarded my horns that grew from my head like an elephants tusks grew from its mouth. I showed her the rough bits of bone protruding from my forehead, and that seemed to please the heavily makeup-ed woman. What also intrigued her were the burns that had also been scarred onto my body.  
>Due to the belief that I was a demon, I had to be the subject for many an exorcism and torture. Such treatments required normal men and women alike to burn me, douse me with what they believed to be 'holy water' and chain me so that I couldn't move in the slightest no matter how hard I yanked. My parents hated everything about me, so they did nothing to end my eternal, agonizing torture.<br>That's when I ran away to join the circus, so it had become.  
>And that's the long and short of it.<br>"Hey Lucifera." Jimmy muttered and I quickly shut the notebook I'd been scribbling in. I shot him a glare as he grinned at me cheekily. Like me, he was also an outcast to society; and only because he had 'lobster hands'. His index and middle finger were sealed together along with his pinkie and ring finger which shared the same fate, creating a lobster-like appendage of human flesh. His fingers were also abnormally long due to his deformity, but they were put to great use when the time came to pleasure a woman.  
>"You know I hate that." I hissed back at him, trying to forcefully shove the hat I'd been wearing back over the brown horns that refused to be covered.<br>"Fine..." Jimmy sighed, "What was your name again?" He muttered sarcastically.  
>"I told you a THOUSAND times. My name is Rebeque." I sighed, stuffing my notebook close enough beside me so that he couldn't see. Jimmy rolled his eyes. I could quickly see why girls would fall for him so easily; he had such a pretty face.<br>"Hey, I'll remember your name as soon as I can count to ten on my fingers." He said holding up his hands which held fingers that would forever be sealed together.  
>"You'll be able to once I cut your fingers apart. One. By. One." I growled, staring at him as I caused my hands to mimic a scissoring motion.<br>"Oh come on, Rebeque... You know my fingers are my best features." He said with a wink. Ugh! Why did he have to be such a flirt?  
>I rolled my eyes as I had to force myself not to smile at the childlike demeanor of my fellow freak.<br>"Hey..." He muttered, the tips of his index and middle finger brushing against my cheek softly. I opened my eyes again, wishing that the dirty-haired boy would just leave me alone to my thoughts.  
>"Happy Halloween." He chuckled before passing me a pocketful of candies which fell into my hands. My eyes grew wide when I realized that I didn't remember what candy tasted like.<br>"Where did you get these?" I whispered in alarm, "I didn't think Elsa let us celebrate Halloween."  
>"Eh... she doesn't like us to perform on Halloween... for reasons." He muttered, tossing me a caramel piece which I took gratefully into my bony fingers. I was never given candy as a child; mothers would chide me saying 'candy is for angels like our daughters. Not for you.' So I simply went without that simple delight.<br>I bit into the brown cube with excitement and nearly fell over in pleasure at my first taste of caramel. I'd known that candy was sweet, but I rarely ever indulged in such wonderful pleasures.  
>"It's... delicious..." I sighed, trying to prevent from moaning aloud at this discovery of amazing and astounding flavor. Jimmy smiled at my response to the new experience.<br>That's when our solitude was interrupted by a shout.  
>"Hey lovebirds! We've got a show to do tonight!" The Muscle Man shouted at us.<br>Jimmy looked horror-stricken for the briefest of seconds before he stood up.  
>"But it's Halloween. We don't do shows today." Jimmy replied without pause.<br>"Not my rules... Elsa's! In case you didn't know, we're running low on funds and need to bring in some real paying customers tonight! And, you, Demona!" He shouted before approaching Jimmy and I, stomping through the tall grass in order to reach us. I rose up slowly as soon as he met us, trying to keep a snide remark in the back of my throat. I would not be the demon they believed me to be.  
>"Yes?" I asked politely, brushing the dirt free from my clothes.<br>"Guess who's gonna be our new fire-breather." He jeered, holding a bag just far enough behind him so that I couldn't see what was within.  
>"I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's the man with the short arms?" I asked, tucking my elbows behind me until I looked somewhat like a dinosaur. Jimmy suppressed a chuckle behind me, and Muscle Man looked rather aggravated by my arrogance before he roughly pushed the burlap sack into my arms. The force of his shove nearly caused me to topple over, but I managed to stay upright.<br>"You are. I trust you know how to light a match?" He cooed sarcastically.  
>"Yes?" I replied, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice when I was given the heavy bag of gasoline, torches, and water.<br>"Good. Then I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to breathe fire without burning the Big Top down." He growled before strutting off in all his fat, muscled glory.  
>"I'll try!" I shouted behind him sarcastically. I decided, right then, that I would begin practicing my new act before I tried for Elsa. Hopefully, if I gave enough effort, she would like it and let me stay in the show.<br>I turned to Jimmy nervously as his calloused, webbed fingers rubbed my shoulders through my extra-large T-shirt.  
>"It'll be alright, okay?" He muttered before standing before me. I took his hand gingerly in my own for a moment before I looked up at him.<br>"I know it will be." I replied without a tremor in my voice.  
>He stood at least a head taller than I, but I didn't mind feeling short this time as oppose to other times when I wanted to head-butt people into bending down so that I stood over them.<br>There was a long pause while I just studied his perfect, child-like eyes and tried not to let the quiet of the atmosphere get to me.  
>"You sure you're not a demon?" He asked softly, a cheeky grin appearing on his tanned, freckled cheeks. My brows furrowed together in both confusion and impatience at the question; Didn't he realize that I hated being referred to as a spawn of hell?!<br>"No! I'm just a human! This like a scar... something I was born wit–."  
>"Because you've enchanted me..." He sighed before walking off. I tried to ignore the butterfly feeling in my heart as I stood stock-still in surprise. Did I really just hear Jimmy Darling say that? No... Must've been a dream; a passing thought.<br>Oh well, time to start practicing. 


	2. Chapter 2

Here you learn about Rebeques dark past... and how she came to be in the Freakshow.

After I'd been practicing for over an hour, I felt like I'd successfully managed to create the illusion of breathing fire. I was told that Jimmy had managed to convince Elsa to change her mind regarding the show, but we still had to practice to 'make up for lost time' and also train me as their new act.  
>Once I was inside the Big Top, which had been all set up for our viewers who wouldn't arrive, it looked like a show that I'd seen as a child. Only this time, no one was allowed in or out aside from the freaks that were performing. The girl with two heads, Bett and Dot were new, like me, and watched without emotion as I clumsily tried to walk and spit fire into the air. Elsa pressed the tips of her fingers to her temples in disappointment. I felt my ego sink down to my toes.<br>"Stop! Halte! Nein!" She called out for the thousandth time. By now I reeked of gasoline and I was very out of breath from having to spit the gas at a sufficient amount of speed to create the fire-breathing effect.  
>"Sorry..." I coughed, trying to escape from the taste of gas burning in my throat and causing my nostrils to feel like they were on fire.<br>"Elsa, let the girl have a break... she's wobblier than a newborn baby horse." Dot sighed when she saw my anxious state. I sat down on a dusty seat while Elsa bickered about how I had to get my role in the show right before the tomorrow, or 'the demon' would have to go. I felt weak as I massaged my horns and tried to ignore Elsa's crude words regarding me.  
>That's when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, an odd electric-green fog nearing the tents entrance at a sluggish rate.<br>"Elsa?" I asked in alarm. But I was being ignored as she continued to banter in her famous German accent.  
>"But anyways, I sink we shall vait until tomorrow to complete her training... she will be a vine edition." Elsa beamed turning around. She didn't see the mist, or, if she did, she ignored it as she'd been ignoring me.<br>As I watched outside, a figure stood against the fog, wearing a top hat and clad in victorian-age type clothing that made him look very classy. Where had he come from?  
>Elsa looked up at the stranger and smirked deftly.<br>"Ah, you're late." She sighed, as if she knew this strange man. I felt an uncomfortable rush of anxiety and fear flow through me while I was in the presence of this man, so I remained quiet while the tall figure examined the inside of the Big Top. I saw that everyone else, including Jimmy had left during this. Why was this man here? Didn't he know that there was no show tonight?  
>"Run along, Demona. You need your rest." Elsa murmured harshly before beaming up towards the tall stranger.<br>"That wasn't polite of you, my fair lady." The stranger hissed at Elsa before I rose. I looked over my shoulder before I left the tent and saw an odd shape on the back of the mysterious mans head, the shape and tone of it looking somewhat like a masquerade mask. Perhaps he'd just returned from a renaissance faire? That would account for his lavish clothes and exotic accent.  
>I didn't waste any time darting outside through the green fog as quickly as possible. My young imaginative mind was depicting worse case senarios of my legs being burnt off, or perhaps suffering dire consequences if I were to breathe in the eerie substance. I darted into the trailer that I'd been given and leapt onto the thin-mattress that had been designated as my bed. I was exhausted and needed rest, so I didn't even bother changing into my pajamas or even getting food before I drifted off into a deep and dreamless slumber. It was pure ecstacy.<p>

"Arise..." A soft voice murmured through the cloak of sleep that I'd encased myself in. I rolled over and opened my eyes, not at all expecting too see who had woke me up so carefully.  
>It was the Victorian man, and he was standing but a few feet from my bed, his palm just inches from my shoulder where he'd obviously shook me.<br>I sat up abruptly, wrapping my blanket around me as if it was some sort of shield, a scream caught in my throat.  
>"What are you doing in here!? You're not allowed back here!" I squawked in alarm, instantly awake. The man only smiled pitifully before sitting down slowly and removing his top hat. The green fog had followed him, and I instantly was horrified all the more.<br>"My apologies, milady... I do not mean to intrude."  
>"Who are you?! Why are you here? You're not allowed in my trailer!" I growled, growing more and more aggravated by this mans intrusion as each second ticked by.<br>He stood up, a wave of relief rushing through me when I thought he was going to leave.  
>"Pardon, I realize how rude I am being..."<br>I tried to calm myself, but fury filled me so completely, that calm was all but unreal to me.  
>"Look, there's no show until tomorrow night. I'll perform then. Now get out of my trailer before I make you get out. I know self-defense and you'll be dead before you can reach the door if you stay here a minute longer!"<br>"Ah, dear girl... that is my predicament..." He sighed, as if disappointed about something, "I already am dead."  
>I felt a pang of fear rush up my spine as I stared at him, trying to word together a response.<br>"But... if... w-who are you?" I whimpered, suddenly cold as I wrapped my thin blanket tighter around myself.  
>"My name is Edward Mordrake, you may have heard of me."<br>My mind immediately flashed back to when Jimmy had said that name while telling me about a ghost who would come on Halloween night if we performed...  
>It couldn't have been real... it was just a man playing jokes...<br>But somehow, deep down, I knew this wasn't a joke.  
>"What do you want?" I whispered, tears in my eyes. "Please... please don't kill me.." I whispered, tears racing down my face, "I'm not ready."<br>"I wouldn't dream of it!" Edward exclaimed before a more stern expression overcame his face. "My request is... is that you tell me your darkest memory... Think back as far back as you can." He said softly. I was soon calmed by his presence as I sat there, blushing profusely as I dabbed at my eyes.  
>"My darkest memory? Why?"<br>"Because... I'm on the search for someone I must take back with me..."  
>"Am... am I the one?" I whispered as I curled up into a feeble position.<br>"There is a chance... but I must hear your story first in order to find out."  
>I bit my lip, the tips of my fingers sliding against the roughness of my horns.<br>"All... all I can think of is my... my family..." I began, shaking like a leaf as I tried desperately to recall every single tiny detail in my past, "Once I was born... I was a perfect child. I was spoilt, given whatever I wanted until I began speaking and talking. I guess, when I started talking, it wasn't normal baby-chatter-turned to words... It was hissing and chants and languages that no one knew..."  
>I paused, the memories bubbling up like lava over a volcanos edge.<br>"Go on." Edward replied calmly, listening intently as I relayed my tale.  
>"Right around when I was five, that's when these," I touched the tips of my horns that scratched me slightly. "That's when these began to grow. They started out like thick freckles, but they grew up bigger and they curled around like a rams horns. My parents hated me after that... they beat me, they would lock me away so that their rich friends wouldn't see me. When they asked where I was... my parents would say I was sick...<br>"When people wanted to see me, because it had been awhile... my parents lied and said I'd passed away from my illness and they had to bury me. Obviously there were some who wanted to investigate further, but no one knew me enough to actually delve deep into the story.  
>"I tried to escape. I tried to run away and find someone else to care for me, but my parents forced me away like an animal. Day in and day out, when neither of them had any parties to go to, they set to work trying to cut off my horns and teach me to be what they deemed to be a 'normal human'. But they couldn't find a knife sharp enough to cut away the bones. Then, years later, they told me that they'd found someone that could 'help me' with my problem."<br>I was in tears by now as I sobbed into my knee. Edward Mordrake was silent as he watched me mourn for my horrid past. I felt the tips of his fingers attempt to comfortingly comb his fingers through my hair and occasionally touching my horns.  
>"Poor child... You did nothing wrong... Yet they punished you for something that couldn't be helped." He cooed, handing me a handkerchief. I took it gratefully and dabbed at my overflowing eyes.<br>"They... They'd hired at least a dozen exorcists to 'remove the demon'. I was chained, upright, to a wall and had to listen as the bible was being read. The man said that I was cursed, and it was either I accepted his 'healing message' or die in the worse way possible. I listened, I guess a part of me wanted to believe that they could cure me... but that was before they tried more grievous approaches. They continued reading the bible, but now they were touching me with red hot pokers. They stripped me naked in front of them, and ran hot rods against my skin until I smelled like I'd been on fire.  
>"The burning was everywhere, though, not just my stomach and arms, but on my face and between my legs, too. After the burning was done, they would douse the blisters with holy water until I was cold and hoarse from screaming so hard."<br>"But that is not your worse memory, is it? Something worse happened during that time. What was it?"  
>I looked up at him, dreading the memories that came rushing through me the moment Edward had calmly spoken once more.<br>"It was... it was late... They'd just finished their session and I was trying to sleep while being upright and against a wall. Two of them walked in late during the night, drunk as hell. They... They said, 'This ones good n' ready for us'. I couldn't do anything as they raped me and abused me in every way possible... they cut me, they bit me... I was close to death... I wanted to die so badly then... but I couldn't..."  
>I looked up at Edward who looked at me with no emotion. I felt a flame burn in me when I was telling my story and was eliciting no response from my audience.<br>"That's when they decided I was incurable. That's when my parents threw me out without any money. All they gave me was a dress and a hat to cover my horns. I tried dozens of ways to kill myself, but at the last minute I would chicken out and continue on." I whispered.  
>There was a long moment before I could open my eyes again. But when I did, I saw a whole manner of other peculiars surrounding me, curious, darkened eyes watching me with subtle interest.<br>"Who are they?" I whispered, but Edward Mordrake only stood straight ahead, as if listening intently to something. The green mist wafted through every contour of my trailer and I immediately knew it was my time. I curled up into a ball, sobbing aloud, as I closed my eyes, my horns pressed against my kneecaps.  
>Then, suddenly there was silence.<br>It took a long while before I assembled enough courage to look.  
>My trailer was empty once more.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

I peered out through the tent flaps;  
>There were two men sitting in the back of the numerous rows of seats, almost hidden in the shadows that night brought. I watched Elsa perform 'Life on Mars' and lip sync through the entire ordeal. I watched the bearded lady appear on the stage as well as Jimmy and also the Strong Man who easily hefted up Amazon Eve on his shoulder. My turn would come during the intermission. I was to walk out into the sea of empty seats and blow fire overhead. Somehow I was supposed to seduce the men in the very back because they were new to Jupiter and were looking for a good time. Elsa told me that perhaps if they saw a good show, they would recommend us and we'd get more customers.<br>I was wearing my red and yellow leotard, and my skin was painted bright red aside from my eyes and cheekbones which were a deep orange. My hair had been shaved back slightly to expose my horns more and make me look more like a creature from hell.  
>I didn't care, I just had to get through this act then scrub off the makeup. That was my goal for this evening.<br>Ma Petite, the worlds smallest woman, waved and smiled before she began blowing kisses and giggling in such a way that it made butterflies flutter in your stomach. The two men in the back watched without reaction at one of our finest acts as she opened up a bird cage and stepped inside, daintily holding her skirt to keep it from snagging. She stepped in with no hassle or fuss before she waved once more, completely inside the cage. Amazon Eve picked up the cage and hefted Ma Petite over her head as if she were a pedistal for the tiny woman.  
>I closed my eyes, attempting to envision what it would sound like if there was a massive audience outside the tent. That's when I felt a finger on my shoulder and Elsa pushed me towards the empty stage.<br>Following me, the 'ringmaster' grinned like a super-model.  
>"We will have a brief intermission, in the meantime, watch and be amazed by our newest act; The Fire Eating She-Devil!"<br>I tried not to react at the appalling new title I was given, but I couldn't help it as a blush crept onto my face. The two men in the very back did not move nor clap this time, I felt beyond terrified that I might screw up my act.  
>I carefully lit the match and clumsily lit the torches in either hand, one after the other. A moment later I clenched both torches in my one hand as I sucked a large ammount of gasoline from the canteen I'd brought with me.<br>The gasoline in my throat burned something awful, but I forced back any complaints before I held the torch a half-foot from my lips.  
>I blew out a massive pillar of fire that expanded to the center of the tent before diminishing entirely once the gasoline was licked up from the fires. I tried to see how the two men had reacted, but I couldn't see now; I was on a roll.<br>I downed another mouthful of gas before I blew a tornado of fire overhead; causing it to spin madly like a top. My heart fluttered in my chest when I saw the remnants of the flames vanishing.  
>My final act now.<br>I blew another pillar, but this time in the face of the tent flaps where a faint breeze was coming in. I hoped it was enough.  
>I watched as the fires ricocheted back towards me, I held my hands open as if I was welcoming the flames and they vanished just before they were to hit my face to give it the illusion that I'd inhaled the flames.<br>Still a torch left and Elsa had not returned to pull me off the stage. I picked up the torch and began to pass it from palm to palm.  
>"I will need a volunteer from the audience." I said in a booming voice, a smile flickering on my deep red lips. I knew the couple heard me, and I knew that they were now debating who should join me.<br>When no one stood up, I ran out towards the crowd, smiling like a child.  
>"I will choose..."<br>Now I had a good look at the audience. It was an old man and a boy who looked about Jimmy's age. Who to choose?  
>I pointed at the sulking figure of the boy and grinned.<br>"Come with me, boy. Let us show your friend, here, that you have your own magic."  
>The boy looked like he was about to complain before he shrugged and stood up. He was taller than me; how marvelous.<br>He followed me without a word as I began to contemplate what I would do with my guest.  
>"Stand right here." I said after a moment. The teen stood stock still where I'd assigned him and stared at me, his brows furrowing together in either curiosity or boredom.<br>"Look..." I giggled as I tossed the torch over the boy. If I didn't match this perfectly, the boy would lose his hair, so I had to nail it.  
>The audience member cowered as soon as I caught the ball of flames from the torch and seemingly swallowed them. I caught the empty torch in my free hand with a wide, psychotic grin.<br>"Well done... Look... are you burnt?" I asked him, stalking around the lean boy slowly. The teen looked physically shaken, but shook his head.  
>"Want to try another trick?" I giggled. The boy nodded enthusiastically as I relit the torch.<br>"I want you to sit down and let me cover you with this..." I said with a smile as I handed him the black blanket. Elsa and the others were watching with both fear and anxiety on their faces.  
>From the other crowd-members point of view, he watched as I lit his companion completely on fire.<br>When the lump of the boy didn't move, I grinned as I watched the blanket turn completely into ash.  
>"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The crowd member shouted loud enough for my heart to pound, even though I knew already it was a trick.<br>"What have I done? I have done nothing!" I said as the boy reappeared off the side of the stage, being brought by Ma Petite who continued to smile and wave.  
>The boy looked petrified.<br>"Well done!" I giggled as I pressed a passionate kiss against the boys lips (Elsa said I had to seduce the men, so why don't I? After all, the younger was rather handsome). I lead him back towards his seat.  
>"Were you afraid?" I giggled like a gremlin.<br>"N-no." The boy replied with a nervous smirk. "What's your name then?" He asked. But I ran off before I could answer; gone without a reply for the boy who I'd managed to burn alive and spare from the grueling flames.


End file.
